Two By Two
by lovesbitch4spike
Summary: JA are hooked up and Grace is feeling left out. Then along comes Quaker girl


Two by Two

Category: Slash

Rated: PG-13

Spoilers for: Episode 18/19 Don't know the episode names, sorry.

Set-up: Joan and Adam are finally together (yay). Grace is annoyed and still flying single (less yay). And I don't remember Quaker girl's name so I made it up.

Disclaimer: Don't sue me or anything because I am poor. I'm not trying to make any money off this. The characters aren't mine. Fanfic is written out of love. And boredom. and a need for Grace/Quaker girl smoochies.

Grace rolled her eyes as she impatiently waited for Joan and Adam to stop be mushy with each other. How could they have possibly missed each other if they refused to ever separate. Besides, what did they really miss? The face sucking? Then they should shut-up and get on with it already. The only thing that ever stopped them from kissing was pausing to talk about how much they wanted to be kissing. The couple took her advice. Grace wrinkled her nose and turned her head. Gross.

"Can you believe this?" she turned to ask Luke.

Bad timing. He was being all smoochy with geek girl.

_God!_ Thought Grace, _I'm in the middle of a bad, underaged porno!_

What was so great about kissing anyway, especially since it seemed to cause instant and permanent neurological damage. It was a good thing she kept her kissing skills reserved for political statements.

Joan and Adam finally drifted apart. About fucking time. Oh no, she didn't even want to consider the idea of the two of them getting biblical. It was bound to make the situation even worse. She shouldn't have encouraged Joan. She should have just pushed for him to stay with squeaky. Yeah the girl was obnoxious as hell, but nothing a good sharp jab to the voice box wouldn't fix. And depressed and angsty Joan was by far superior to the version she was having to deal with now.

Joan was slightly flushed, big smile on her face. She gave a little head tilt as she watched Adam disappear into art class. _Oh please do not tell me she's checking out his butt. I don't wanna think about Adam-butt. Thanks! Now I need a brain enema! _

Joan heaved a sigh. "He's just so ..."

_Dead if I ever hear him use the term snookiewoogums again?_

"Yeah, whatever. I've gotta go?"

Joan looked at Grace in disbelief. "What are you actually planning on going to a class on time?"

Busted!

"No, but avoiding promptness takes careful planning." Grace began to stalk off but Joan followed after.

"Grace is everything ok?"

"Everything is dandy! Everything is flowers and sunshine! "

"Because I know it's kind of different with Adam and me. I don't want you feeling left out, but you'll meet the right ... someone. I promise. It just takes time"

"I want to be left out. Romance kills brain cells, not to mention personality. If I'm going to fail chemistry it's because of the mild disinterest and a lack of respect for public education, not because I'm too busy getting felt up!"

With that Grace stalked off.

"Um God," Joan asked, "Would this be a part of the whole careful what you wish for scenario?"

The janitor walked by her, pausing long enough to say, "Get to band class."

*******************

"So I'm finally happy, and instead of joining me in my happiness she has to try to make me feel miserable, and it's working. I mean, what is her deal? She's morose, so everyone else has to be too? I'm tired of being lonely and depressed all the time!" Joan rambled off, barely pausing to take a breath.

Cute hat girl, Joan's Quaker band friend hesitated a moment before answering, clearly afraid another string of sentences was on its way.

"Maybe she's just feeling a little overlooked. It's hard enough being an outsider. I know. But when you're an outsider without friends, its even harder."

"We're still friends!" Joan insisted. "We spend all our time together."

"But is it time with her or time with the two of you while she happens to be there?" Quaker girl asked.

Joan paused for a moment. The remark had hit home. Too close to home. She looked cute hat girl over closely. "You're not popping up as people I already know now, are you?" She gave her a meaningful look.

Quaker girl was, not for the first time, a little frightened of the strange girl. "What?"

"Never mind."

Their band instructor interrupted them. "Miss Gerardi, if I lacked the percussionary skills of a wind-up monkey I would be paying attention in class instead of talking."

"Oh I'm paying attention," Joan said. "I'm paying complete attention-"

She gestured on the last word for emphasis, accidentally sending a drumstick flying into the face of their first chair trumpet.

"Ow," he cried, dropping his horn and grabbing his eye.

"Principle's office Joan. Now."

Joan slid out of her seat, trying to seem cool and collected despite the situation and the fact that she tripped on her way out the door.

**************************

Grace felt a little bad. She'd never admit it, but the feeling was there. This was the honeymoon period for them after all, and she hadn't really seen Adam smile so much since before his mother died. She snuck out of class early, to remedy her actually showing up on time. She leaned against the wall, waiting for Joan to get out of class so that she could find a way to apologize without apologizing. Or trick Joan into apologizing instead. Whatever worked. However when the class emptied, Joan was nowhere in sight. A girl with a strange but oddly endearing hat came up to her.

"Grace right?"

Grace put on her tough face. _Here comes another lesbian/transgender jab. Or a practical joke. Or both. Great._

"Are you waiting for Joan?"

"I'm not waiting. If she happens to show up, I'm here. Who are you?"

"Jen, one of Joan's friends."

_Joan has other friends? Tell me she's not a pom-pom swing fascist!_

"Oh really."

"We're in band together."

Duh. Well that made sense, since she came from that class. Band nerd. Another subdefective. Grace's Great Wall of China lost a couple of bricks.

"She's a little worried about you, you know?" Jen told her.

"Why?"

"That she's losing you as a friend. I'm sorry, am I butting in?" Jen looked down at her feet.

Normally Grace would have shot her down, but she was so nonassuming and vulnerable. She just didn't have the heart to. Besides, subdifectives needed to stick together. That hat was casting a spell on her. "Yes, but you've already started so you might as well ... how could she be losing me? She's the one who's pushing any non-Adam person away!"

"I know it's kinda awkward to be the odd one out. I've sort of been the odd one out my whole life. But that's why you have to be patient. Because the friends you make are the ones actually worth having. Even if they get a little distracted sometimes."

"So what's your abnormality?" Grace asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you the odd one out?" Grace clarified.

"Being Quaker. Being a complete dork. Being, um, single."

Grace started to really take notice of the girl's body language. When she had said this um she had involuntarily looked Grace up and down. Though she hadn't had much experience with the maneuver, she recognized it from when geek boy had tried it out on her. _She just checked me out!_

Grace returned the favor. Cute hat girl was just that, cute. Downright hot when she worked the hat thing to her best advantage. But the Quaker part? Could an angry young militant and a conscientious objector have a chance in Hell of having a chance of anything together? Then again Grace was rebelling against the very rules that would have told her to give up and stick to secretly rewinding the Willow and Tara scenes in her hidden stash of Buffy DVD's (which no one but her would ever, EVER know about).

Grace heaved a sigh and shifted to stare at the ceiling. "Look, It's been a bad day. If I was an ass before-"

_Hold on just a moment. I came dangerously close to saying the word sorry. Sorry's not supposed to be in my dictionary. I tore that page out the day I was old enough to wear leather. _ What was going on? Lust was already warping her brain._ Get out while you can Gracie!_

"It's ok." Quaker girl smiled under her cute hat. "I sort of figured as much. You know I've enjoyed talking to you. Maybe we should, um...."

_Make wild monkey love. Skip through the fields together. Make me stop wanting to puke from all these overly sentimental and romantic notions!_

"Talk or something. Again. I'm a good listener. "

"Sure." Grace's pulse was racing just like in that damn geek-girl's analysis of heavy on the cologne boy.

"You can come to my band practice tonight if you want."

"Yeah, sure. If nothing better comes up."

Grace hid a rare smile as Jen walked away. Her dad was still tripping out about her building a gun and causing a scene in Hebrew class. She only imagine his reaction if she got a girlfriend.


End file.
